Foot exerciser



July 7, 1931. w. D. WHITE ET AL FOOT EXERCISER Filed Feb. 5, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 71 1 2526 .2. Wife. 66am I y, f w

July 7, 1931. w. D. WHITE ET AL 1,313,006

' FOOT EXERCISER Filed Feb. 5, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 itsjnatural' condition in case of fiat feetand the like.

Patented July 7, 1931 fPjIefTEN'r me E WILLIAM B. VJHITE, orwoitonsmnn, AND cmr i'oiaiaja seamen, or rarer-Jenna, rims- 'SACHUSETTS, AssIe-NoRs, BY l'en'sun- ASSIGEMENTS, TO MARCUS A. oooLInGE, F

VFITCHIBURG, MASSACHUSETTS Foo-r: EXERcIsE R This iavennon relates t afdevice a; application to thesOl S, otthe feet for ex'ercis .ing the feet and also for restoring foetft The principal objects of the invention: re

toprovide asimplified means forsup'plying the footpad or diaphragm with air and withdrawing it therefrom; to provide a;di-

rect connection from a motor for operating" the air-supplying means; to providemea'ns in connection with a pad ,for holdingth'e sole of the foot when the pad isexh'ansted and preventingthe foot fro descending to a too low level; and to pro'videimproved means. for holding the heel support and the toe strapvvhich is adjustable and easily, moved from one position to another and which does not get out of engagement Whensoymoved.

vthe motor; I

Fig-7 is a sectional View. on the line 7-37 of Fig. 2, showing-the'operation when in-. troducing air into the pad and withdrawing ittherefrom, but showing thepad collapsed;

and stimulate incline as indicated bythe arrow 2 in Fig.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view through the eX:

'treme edge of the casing showing the machinery inside in elevation; i e

Fig. 4 is an end View of the machinery showing part of the casing in section;

Fig. '5 is a sectional View on the lined-,5

Q otFig. 1, showing the motor casing in elevation;

Fig. 61s a sectional View of Fig. 4, showing the gearlng connected with Fig, 8 is a transverse sectional View of the same showing the pad inflated and the air coming into it; I h

Fig. 9 is a plan of the padtaken underlneaththe top .plate Whichsupports the foot; Fig. 10 is a bottom plan view offthe bellows;

Other objects and advantages of the inven' exerciser have enough thickness to hold the Asthma filed February 5, 1930. serial N6. 428,115.

11 is a transverse sectional view showing-one of'the toe [straps and the holding means therefor inelevat-ion; c

'Figi'IQ sate-inner vi w of one or these on' enlarged scale; and I ,Fig. 1 3 is a sectional View on the line 13-13 orFig. 11.1

All the mane-Sm in this case is shown lnsidefa'bo'zi or casing 10 having a detachable inclined plate or top 11 on which" is se ta sheet metalgplate 12 spacedfromthe top 11 by bars or alarm 13,

edfor the purposeof givingthe foot excr cise. When the foot is placed in position, the sole rest s on the plate 12 in the lowermost position. Thus, the operation moves the, foot 7 structure all the way from that position to a fully extended condition and back again.

This piece of felt is an important feature, as withoutitthe sole of the foot would descend too low, and it should be designed to 4 v V diaphragn'i and the sole of the foot up very closeto the plane of the metal plate 12 and not allow it e ,1 to sink down in any deeper, nomatter if on the line 61.6

suctionis applied to the bag. It is to be no tedthat there is a hole through the piece of felt 15 through which the air is admitted and discharged.

For the purpose of operating the machine. a motor is employed connected with a source of power by lines 21 and with a push button, or switch 22 in series, so that the operation of the motor can be controlled. The

motor itself is .providedwith a shaft having .a worm 23 thereon operating a worm wheel 24% reduced speed on a shaft 25; This shaft.

"through gears 26, operates a second shaft 27 at further reduced speed, and this shaft is if."

and having two perforat10ns l4 therethrough fora purpose to be ong ring 17 secured and the inflatable bellows, one on the right and Queen the left, and that they operate oppositely and inter- 'mittently, The connections fordriving them- I provided two'cranks 28 and I29,'one of them'on oneof the gears 26. 'Each of these cranks is connected bya link '30 with the lower leaf 31 of abellows 32. The upper leaf "33 is stationary and is supported from the inside of the casing by brackets537 and 38. It will be observed thatthere are two of these from the motor are extremely simple and have very few parts likely to get out of order;

The bellows itself is practically without.-

valves. There is a passage 34 through the top 11 and into the opening in the flat cushion without any, valve whatever, through j which the air enters and exhausts,

' leaf islifted, so th'at theairwill not come out H fple gmeans forpo'ntrollmg the a r and does 5 awayQwith allthefva'lfves "in? the instrument mechanical passive massage-,"we have sought i' th at time, but opens at other t i m'es 's o that" any air necessary ean renter when the leaf has gone down This constitutes a very sim but one; I I "Eachfoot is located in the proper position over one of theinflatable bag or'diaphragms thus forming a loop; for" connection with the 7 two latches."

"In bothcases the latches are connected with I the plate 12 by means of longitudinal integral upwardly at an. inclination, "lo ngi tudi-. nal slots 44 provided through the plateun der these projections.

' latches havea substantially vertical part '47 at the top connectedfwithza substantially,

horizontalp art 48, and then wanes S-shaped lower edge49, the loWer part ofwhich passes throughthe' slot 44 and under a flexibleplate 51, the upper part'of which passes over and around the top "of the projection 43. Iinfthis way it will be seen 'that thelower part of the I S-curveflexes the plate .51 andholds the latch in upright position wherever it may be I the 'combination of' a plate, a bellows having and a slight. resiliency ofthe heelres't allow- In. both'cases the ing the same, it is rendered loose and can be movedalong the slot. Then simply by latches are held in that position. 'Under'the strap 41 is a piece of felt on other soft material 50, for engagement with thefoot at the letting it go it becomestight again and the 49en'gagesthe flexible plate 51 just {below 7 the bottom of the cover platelQ, and when 'in the'position' shownfin' Figsrl-l and 12, bends this slightly so a that the s will be no danger of itsjcreepingalong; r

.c It will be seen, therefore, ma ns is an extremely light; mall ompact and simple machine 'forthis purpose} thatthe power can be transmitted t o-thebel-lows frointhe metor without any, great if number; of parts orf'gearing'; that there .isvery little thatiis T to" get out"of order and; that the oporation simple and thee adjustment very easily'accomplishedf 7' 7 VWhereasothers "have", soughtto produce 'a by our invention to whollygavoid the mas: o

sage efieot an'djto produce ratheinwhat we 16 by a -heelrest 40and atoe strap 41; In order to accommodate thedevice-for feet of all I II sizesbothof these should be adjustable. For Qthat purpose the heel 'rest ismade in the a form of a ri gidYU-shaped structure; and the *two' sides I are secure d to a pair of latches42. The toe strap is I formed of fiexible or elastic f 'lnaterial,'- and its endsare also secured toanother pair of latches 4 2"; fIn' the case of the toejstra p these latches have two perforations I 45 witha bar betweenthem, andthestrapf" passes throughone of the perforationsto the-f other side and thenback through theotherf and is secured toitself by .aline of stitehes-46pf believe to be a vastly "more important and beneficial mechanicalaction, namely; aposi- I tive deflation'of the, arteries'and. veins. This is done by having the mechanism-sofunction that the arteries and, veins have their walls pressed together forga short space of; time 'streamsothatthosefwho have used thismachineget rid of the disorders thatresult from 5 poor circulation;

I "Afurther very lmportantaction, that this iimechanical construction'is believed to; acoom I I "plish, isthebreakingup of adhesions, exerprojections 43 fromthat'plate WlllCh extendf Although'we have illustratedand described only a single" form of theinvention, wejare aware of the fact thatchanges canbe made therein'b y any person skilled in'th'e artwithout departing from the scope of the inven tion' Sf expressed :in the 'claims, Therefore Wedo not wishto be limited to the exact form shown, but what we do claim is': "I I I 1. In a machine of the character described,

a stationary leaf supportedby said 'plate behindit and a movableleaf means for operating the movable leaf, the stationary leaf having a port therethrough, a flexible diaphragm covering said port and adapted to e inflated and deflated through said port for the purpose of lifting the arch of a foot over the diaphragm, and a pad on said plate for receiving the diaphragm and preventing its being deflated so far as to bring the foot down to an abnormally low position.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination of a supporting plate or cover, ametal plate spaced abo-ve the supporting plate and having an opening therethrough over which the foot of a patient is adapted to be placed to cover the opening, a flexible diaphragm located on the supporting plate and under said opening, means for securing the edge of the diaphragm all around to the supporting plate, a felt pad under the diaphragm projecting up nearly to the level of the metal plate and a bellows under the supporting plate having a port for introducing air into the diaphragm and taking it therefrom, the port extending through the supporting plate, bellows topand pad.

'holdin g the human foot in position over said opening, a flexible diaphragm carried by the supporting plate under said opening, means for inflating and deflating the diaphragm and means for yieldingly supporting the heel rest and foot strap at both sides thereof, comprising latches, the sheet metal plate having slits provided with upwardly extending edges around which the lower end of the latches engage.

4. In a device of the character described, the combination with a supporting plate, a thin metal plate spaced therefrom. and having an opening therethrough, an inflatable diaphragm under the opening and means for inflating and deflating the diaphragm, said thin plate having opposite slits arranged longitudinally with their edges raised to inclined position, of flexible metal strips underneath the inclined edges, latches having at the bottom an S-shaped portion, the upper part of which extends inwardly over said inclined projection, the bottom part of which extends inwardly through the slit and at the extreme lower edge under said flexible strip, whereby the latches: can be moved along the slits if swung backwardly and when pulled forwardly toward said opening, will be frictionally held in position by the engagement of the bottom of the S-shaped portion with said flexible strip.

5. In a device of the character described, the combination with a metal plate having two longitudinal slits therein and a perforation between them, the outer edges of the metal between the slits being bent upwardly at an inclination to form oppositely inclined projections, a latch extending through each slit and under each projection and extending a upwardly and having two parallel slots, and a toe strap of flexible material extending through the two slots at each side and the end secured to the center part at a distance from the slots to form loops, said strap being of elastic material for the purpose described. In testimony whereof we have hereunto af fixed our signatures.

IVILLIAM D. WHITE.

CLIFFORD J. GLT IASON 

